


Not So Bad Lookin'

by FoxFateWrites



Category: Junior Express (TV)
Genre: 20s au, M/M, OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 07:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18889954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FoxFateWrites/pseuds/FoxFateWrites
Summary: Carlos works full time to support his brothers and he is perfectly content with that, until he meets a singer that is rather pleasing to the eye. This singer; however, is more than he seems.





	Not So Bad Lookin'

Carlos put his hands in his pocket and walked down the street to the little building he lived in. His brothers would already be home from work. Carlos was always the first one gone and the last one home. He opened the door to find his brothers asleep on the couch. The twins had tried to wait for him to come home. Carlos chuckled, they’d never learn.

He had put them to bed and stretched. Carlos crept into the living room and sat down for what felt like the first time all day. He didn’t realize he was starting to drift off into sleep.

Carlos opened his eyes and groaned as he rubbed them. It was his only day off and yet he was up at his usual time. He could hear the door to the small building slam shut. Francis was home.

The poor kid above them was a scrawny waiter at a local bar that worked nights. Francis and Carlos always chatted before Carlos had to dash out the door. Carlos opened the door and rubbed his eyes, seeing Francis walking up the stairway.

“Long night?” Carlos asked, walking over to the stairs. Francis turned around and smiled wearily.

“Isn’t it always?” Francis replied, sitting on the stairs.

“How much did you make tonight?” Carlos asked sitting beside him. Francis chuckled.

“Enough for rent and potentially even some groceries. We had a band play all night so the crowd was pretty nice” Francis explained, smiling. He looked downright miserable.

“You’ve been having better nights since Pink bought that dump” Carlos pointed out. Francis shook his head.

“She has influence. Not to mention that boys she has workin for her. They make the big bucks but- they’re dealin a riskier business” Francis admitted.

“She still got the boy?” Carlos asked. Francis laughed.

“Nah, she’s got a new fling. He makes her money and he’s got some pretty deep pockets if ya know what I mean” Francis told the slightly older boy.

“Alright Francis, go get some shut eye. You look awful” Carlos said, pushing the boy up the stairs.

“I’m way ahead of you Carlos,” Francis said as he went into his little flat. Carlos smirked at the thought of the bar. Rolando had tried to get his brothers to go so many times, after all, it was the most happenin place in town. Carlos ran a hand down his face, he needed to get ready for the day.

~

Carlos let Rolando pull him into the bar, Ricardo walking with them excitedly. He didn’t expect anything from this visit. They wanted to see Francis, hang out with him while he was working and hopefully get something to eat. All three of them hadn’t eaten that day. All the money went to rent. Carlos let Ricardo pick a booth against the wall, looking over the large room. It wasn’t busy, but it wasn’t that late yet. Carlos observed the people on the dance floor. It was your everyday person, no one important. At least, until Carlos saw the pink haired woman walk in, behind her a larger figure following her. He wore a black and white vest and pants. He wore a fedora that matched. Carlos huffed.

Lady Pink.

The woman wore a scandalous pink dress, with a pink fur piece draped over her shoulder. The two sat at the bar, talking with Francis. Pink looked over at them and smiled. Rolando smirked and fixed his hair, the boy and Pink had a good history. Carlos rolled his eyes, then again, Rolando had good history with everyone he met. Pink walked over to them.

“Rolando, what a pleasant surprise. Haven’t seen you around my bar in a while, I hope you haven’t been goin somewhere else” Pink said, leaning on the table.

“I would never do that to you” Rolando assured her, putting his charming smile on. Pink smiled as the figure came up behind her.

“Oh, boys! You haven’t met Greenfeld yet!” Pink said, letting the boy stand next to her.

“Carlos, Ricardo, Rolando, this is Patrick Greenfeld. You’ve probably read about him in the paper” Pink introduced. The boy tipped his hat up, showing off his adorable round features and those bright green eyes. Carlos bit his lip at that cute smile he had adorned.

“Aren’t you the guy who’s on the radio? You do music?”Ricardo asked. Patrick smiled and took off his hat, running his hand through green hair.

“I do music, mainly recording it but I’ve been on a few broadcasts here and there,” Patrick said. Carlos couldn’t take his eyes away from the boy in front of him. Patrick Greenfeld, an uprising singer that was capturing the hearts of many. No wonder he was with Pink, she was pretty well known for her singing.

“That’s so cool!” Ricardo cheered. Patrick scratched his neck.

“Patrick is still pretty new to the business but he’s gonna do music here for a while. You boys should come by one night when the band is here!” Pink exclaimed. Carlos would usually say no to such an occasion, but something in him wanted to see more of Patrick.

~

Carlos laid back against the brick building across the bar. It was getting late, too late for him to be awake and still get up in the morning. It was dark, the only light was coming from the street lamps.

“You could always walk in” Carlos heard beside him. He looked over to a familiar figure.

“I should be heading home, I have work in the morning-“ Carlos started as he began to walk off.

“Aw come on man, whats an hour or two?” Patrick said, following him. Carlos huffed.

“Look, Mr. Greenfeld-“ Carlos went to say but Patrick cut him off.

“Oh no, It’s Patrick. Hell, I’ll even take Green. But do not call me Mr. Greenfeld” Patrick told the taller boy.

“Well, Green, I have rent to pay and two brothers to support. I can’t risk being late to work in the morning” Carlos explained. Green bit his lip and thought for a moment.

“I’ll pay ya” Carlos froze and turned to look at the shorter boy.

“For what?” Carlos asked. Green huffed and scratched his neck.

“I’ll pay ya to go to the bar with me. That way if ya are late, you won’t lose anything” Green explained. Carlos gave him a look.

“Let me get this straight, you’ll pay me to just…go to the bar with you for an hour or two” Carlos summed up.

“Yeah, if you’d be ok with that” Green offered. Carlos thought for a moment, looking at the ground and then up and the boy.

“Only for an hour” Carlos agreed. Green laughed and grabbed the skinny boy’s arm, pulling him towards the doors of the bar.

“Aw, Carlos you’ll love it! Trust me, you’ll really enjoy yourself” Green cheered. The two walked in and instead of the usual quiet atmosphere, there was a large crowd, dancing and having a great time. Carlos tensed up. The band on stage was playin swing music. Green adjusted his jacket and looked over at Carlos, frowning as he noticed the boy staring straight ahead. Green smirked.

“Here, we don’t gotta go to the dance floor. Come on, we’ll go upstairs. Nobody’s ever goes up there” Green said, pulling Carlos to a set of stairs. The two climbed and Carlos found an empty lounge type room. Two men stood there and nodded at Green. The short boy flashed a smile at them as they left.

“How’d you know I was out there?” Carlos asked, watching Green snap his fingers. Carlos watched Francis come in, in his uniform. Francis gave Carlos a strange look, the tall boy shrugged in response.

“I’m gonna be honest with ya Carlos, I’ve seen ya around. You walk to work before the sun rises and you walk back home well after the sun has set. I just happen to see you lean against the buildin across the street” Green explained, taking a glass from the tray Francis held. Green offered one to Carlos but the boy declined.

“So what made tonight different?” Carlos asked. Green flashed that adorable smile and looked down at his expensive shoes.

“I knew your name. Since Pink introduced me to you, I felt like I could approach you. That and you’re kinda intimidating. Standin there holding your chin and the likes. I just thought you’d like to come in for once” Green mumbled, sitting down on the couch. Francis bit his lip. This was bad. Green didn’t bring people up here for nothing.

“I suppose I should feel flattered. It’s not every day some rich playboy offers to pay you just to hang out with him” Carlos mentioned.

“Look, how else was I supposed to get ya in here. It’s obvious you wanna be here but you’re so caught up with your worries, you’re missin out on the now” Green told him. Carlos sat down next to Green. The couch was nicer than his bed at home.

“Have you ever had to worry about anything? Not all of us are given the world when we ask for it. Some of us have to work to keep the people like you happy” Carlos spat. He didn’t mean to get angry, but it was true. Green huffed and leaned into the chair. Carlos was prepared to fight him on this.

“You’re right,” Green said. Carlos froze.

“What?” Carlos managed to say.

“You’re right. People like me have an easy life. I wake up late, stay up late, I don’t cook my own meals” Green joked, Green looked down at himself and frowned. He went to say something.

“Patrick! I see you brought a guest!” The two heard. Pink walked up the stairs and smiled. Carlos stood up and started to leave.

“I need to go,” Carlos said, not looking back. Green got up.

“Wait, Carlos, your payment!” Green yelled chasing after him. Carlos stopped on the stairs and gave the handsome boy a look.

“Keep it” Carlos smirked as he left.

Green watched and ran a hand through his hair. Carlos was somethin else.

~

Francis pounded on the door to the boys’ apartment. Ricardo opened the door frantically, buttoning his shirt.

“What!?” He asked moving out of the way for Francis to come in.

“Where’s Carlos!?” Francis asked, seeing Rolando. The boy had no shirt on and it was obvious he had just woken up.

“He left for work already,” Ricardo said, grabbing his bag and going to out the door.

“Why?” Rolando asked, sitting on their old, worn couch. Francis huffed.

“Because he’s about to get mixed up in business he doesn’t wanna get mixed up in” Francis yelled, stomping out the door and up the stairs. If Lila was up, she’d already be scolding him for stomping. Lila owned the building and lived on the bottom floor, she was more of a mother to the four boys if anyone was honest. Rolando rubbed his eye and stretched. Carlos would be fine, he always was.

~

Carlos walked down the street, it had been a month since the last time he had seen Patrick. The older teen had heard him on the radio though. It sounded like Green was doing very well for himself.

“Carlos!” Carlos heard his name called. Francis ran across the street from the bar and caught up with the boy.

“I have been trying to talk to you for a MONTH” Francis yelled. Carlos nodded.

“My hours were changed” Carlos merely said. Francis rolled his eyes.

“Look, I need you to know something about Patrick before you get pulled into-“ Francis started. Carlos stopped in his tracks.

“If your about to tell me he sleeps around. I already knew that” Carlos mentioned. Francis huffed.

“I mean, yeah he is known to do that too but he’s bad news, Carlos. He works for Pink!” Francis exclaimed. Carlos gave his friend a look.

“So do you” Carlos chuckled. Francis groaned.

“Green deals in some bad business ok, you piss off the wrong person and you’ll end up dead Carlos” Francis warned. Carlos smiled.

“I knew that Francis. A guy does not just try to pay you to talk for no reason. He was up to something. That is why I did not take the payment. Its dirty money” Carlos shrugged. Francis rubbed his eyes.

“Even just talking to him like that puts you in danger,” Francis said. Carlos opened the door to their building.

“Thank you, Francis,” Carlos said, shoving the boy in and sprinting down the street. Francis stepped out to chase after him but there was no way he was going to catch up.

Carlos looked at the doors to the bar and adjusted his jacket. It was the only one he had, and he shared it with his brothers. It fit him perfectly. He walked into the club.

A lot could happen in a month. The bar got some new decor and it seemed there was a brand new radio at the end of the room. The stage had been redone and the dance floor itself had been cleaned.

“Look what the cat dragged in” He heard. Pink was sitting at the empty bar. It was strange seeing the place with no people in it.

“I did not realize you guys were closed,” Carlos said, starting to walk out.

“Woah Woah, slow down Carlos. We ain’t closed, we just ain’t open. I didn’t feel like running the club tonight” Pink said, pouring the teen a drink. Carlos shook his head.

“I suppose you’re lookin for Green Bean,” Pink asked. Carlos nodded. Pink smiled at him and got up.

“Maybe you’ll be able to talk some sense into him. He’s not been himself, ya know” Pink said. She looked up at the stairway in the back and yelled for the singer.

“I should warn ya, he don’t look the same as when you first met him. He’s been sulkin around and not doin anything” Pink explained to the oldest Rulo. Loud thuds could be heard coming down the stairs. Green rubbed his dark eyes and looked up.

“What-Carlos?” Green asked. Carlos looked him up and down. Green looked like hell. His hair had grown out, showing dark brown roots, and he had the start of a beard. He also looked like he had gained some weight.

“What are you doin here?” Green asked. Carlos shrugged.

“Thought I would drop by,” Carlos said. Green smiled and ran a hand through his hair.

“If I had known I woulda made myself a little more presentable,” Green said, sitting down at the bar.

“You look like hell,” Carlos said bluntly. Green laughed.

“Let’s just say, I had a bad run-in with some guys” Green mentioned. Carlos handed him the abandon drink and Green downed it with ease.

“You do know I’m in a gang, right?” Green asked. Carlos nodded.

“And I work for some not so nice people, right?” Carlos nodded again.

“I figured,” Carlos said.

“You probably already know this but I find you very attractive,” Green said, looking at his glass. Carlos touched Green’s soft chin and pulled him into a kiss.

“You are not so bad looking yourself,” Carlos said smiling.


End file.
